Topic: labour market

Since the creation of the UK’s network of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) back under the coalition government in 2011, a renewed onus on partnership working between local authorities, industry and academia has been at the forefront of plans to stimulate economic development and jobs recovery. Five years on, the 39 LEPs spanning the country have evolved as champions of research infrastructures to drive innovation.

Here in the West of England our LEP has been proactive in recognising the opportunity to respond to the needs of several automotive businesses. Ford and JLR, alongside their supply chain companies, want to continue to access the unique ‘systems integration’ expertise at the University of Bath, to develop the future generations of low carbon vehicles: vehicles that could be autonomous, contain multiple propulsion technologies, and are affordable.

Our LEP, like industry, want the synergy between our academic expertise, large scale state of the art facilities, and the economic benefits in jobs and gross value added. They recognise the unique opportunity to reap the rewards of such collaborative working through our proposal for the Institute for Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems (IAAPS). IAAPS shows how and why this nexus between research excellence, business innovation and economic development, the so-called ‘Triple Helix Model’, helps generate powerful results for all partners involved.

Our vision for IAAPS has been developed in partnership with industry and with our Local Enterprise Partnership.

Alongside the West of England LEP

This is because, by working on our proposals in partnership, IAAPS aligns with the West of England LEP’s priorities, as outlined by its latest Strategic Economic Plan. IAAPS will provide resilience to the Advanced Engineering expertise in the Aerospace and other sectors, where high value design and integration (technology and talent) will become increasingly interrelated.

In no area is this truer than in developing the West of England’s advanced engineering industries where with the appropriate skills provisions, our region has distinct competitive advantage which brings the enormous potential for sustainable future jobs growth too. The Bristol & Bath Science Park is an obvious location for several facilities, developing an Advanced Engineering Campus.

This sustained economic growth will rely on the success of our small businesses and support for our SMEs remains another key priority area for the LEP. With Brexit, IAAPS will reassure both large foreign-owned manufacturers to continue to invest in the design and integration of future powertrain developments, which will grow the indigenous SME supply chain. Providing a collaborative and open platform for SMEs and start-ups, IAAPS will help build and expand their business.

In my last blog I outlined how UK automotive in 2016 is in an enviable position but must keep moving forward by innovating through new research and development if it is to continue to capture the future market share. Here, I want to turn to the other piece of the jigsaw that it’s fundamental we get right: Upskilling our current and future workforce so that we have the right people in place to fill the high-end, advanced engineering jobs this industry creates.

Earlier this year, Automotive Council UK set out how 5,000 jobs lay vacant in UK automotive due to current skills shortages. That’s a depressing statistic and something that is undermining future growth in the sector. The report finds that 20% of those unfilled vacancies are ‘critical’ and having a ‘significant impact’ on companies’ operations.

This is a challenge recognised nationally, regionally and by the sector. The UK government’s ‘Driving the Future Today’ strategy, launched in 2013, outlines four key priorities, one of which is investing in skills. On a regional level, our Local Enterprise Partnership covering the West of England has highlighted similar issues directly impacting on this part of the world; specific skills shortages in High Tech, Low Carbon and Advanced Engineering.

IAAPS will offer extensive industry-led training opportunities including new Masters and PhD programmes.

Here at the University this is where our plans for the Institute for Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems (IAAPS) can come in. In addition to the industry-led experimental research that IAAPS can foster, our Institute will also provide world class training and development opportunities, helping to deliver the highly skilled engineers that our industry partners are crying out for.

Aligning neatly with the University’s own strategy for postgraduate education, we want IAAPS to be a training environment that nurtures research leaders of the future and upskills our current workforce. We’ll do this through a significant investment in new Masters and PhDs programmes, as well as through new apprenticeships.

And by developing this skills provision with our industry partners in-line with their needs, those going through our courses will be exposed to real world challenges, ensuring that their employability having graduated will be second to none.

Labour productivity for UK automotive is currently the highest in Europe, but sustained future growth will only continue if we plug the skills gap the industry is facing. IAAPS can help achieve this by training the next generation of advanced automotive engineers.